Chapter 94
Nowadays, the world was noisy because of the story of one man.
People were enthusiastic about the new stories of a certain knight that came up whenever one almost forgot.
After the death of the Unification Emperor, numerous famous figures emerged from the places divided into various factions, but the path of Karl, the protagonist of the current story, was unlike anything seen anywhere else.
“Did you hear? They say he saved Schwerin this time? Marquis Baltimo tried to brand them as devil worshippers and annihilate them, but guess what, Sir Karl happened to meet them while traveling north.”
“So? What happened?”
“So what do you mean, so? It means Sir Karl just smashed Marquis Baltimo’s army to pieces.”
“I heard that 100 Red Knights and 300 regular soldiers went, but Sir Karl single-handedly wiped them all out and just cut down 70 Red Knights in one go.”
“Hey… Does that make sense? No matter how much of a Master Sir Karl is, how could he kill 70 Red Knights in one go?”
“Huh, isn’t it Sir Karl, not some other Master?”
In people's stories, Karl was a hero.
A knight who helped those in difficulty and stood on the side of the weak.
Perhaps that's why they were even more enthusiastic.
“Honestly… Are the people called knights nowadays really knights? They’re knights in name only, busy looking after their own interests. Is there really any knight who can protect the weak or step up for the right cause?”
“Such knights die early.”
“Right… Because they died early.”
To people now, knights were just an interest group and a power group.
In reality, it was an era overflowing with those who didn't even know what chivalry was and just thought being strong was enough.
“I wish Sir Karl would change the world. I heard that places Sir Karl passes through change.”
“Well, I heard that Humming City, where the Alcantara Knights are, is considered the best city to live in these days.”
“I think it might be good for us too to move to a place Sir Karl has visited.”
Most cities or domains where knight orders were stationed were of a certain size.
As a result, knight orders supplemented their income by receiving money through people's requests.
After a certain amount of time, these knight orders would become blinded by greed and often harass people by raising protection fees or request fees exorbitantly.
A typical domain lord didn't possess a knight order, so if such an order settled in their domain, it might be good for resisting external forces, but it led to hardship for the domain residents.
Considering that a poor rural lord's vassal knights numbered around 5 to 10, even a small knight order of less than 50 members wasn't a force that could be easily dismissed.
That's why, looking at the entire continent, the number of knight orders wasn't that large.
However, on the continent, there were quite a few knight orders who called themselves knights despite not being knights ordained by real knights or nobles.
Thanks to these de facto gangster groups, the reputation of knights on the continent was falling even lower.
“Anyway, these days, talking about Sir Karl feels like relieving pent-up frustration.”
“Well, haven't we only been talking about who got hurt and stories where the bad guys win all this time? I don't even know when was the last time we talked about catching bad guys like this.”
“Indeed. These days, it really feels refreshing.”
They raised their glasses with smiles covering their faces and toasted to Karl.
If one listened quietly, everyone in the tavern was talking about the same thing.
***
On the main road.
A man lay looking up at the sky on a dark brown horse, moving along.
Neither the horse nor the man seemed in a hurry, appearing very slow and leisurely.
Karl, having left Schwerin, was heading down northwest, not northeast towards Marquis Baltimo’s location.
It wasn't like he was going to seek out Marquis Baltimo alone and kill him anyway.
Part of the revenge for what happened in Ulstein last time was settled this time, so living on, there would surely be a day to settle the rest eventually.
Home.
Thinking of home naturally brought the County of Collo to mind.
The place Count Vito had prepared.
He was starting to miss that place too.
He had considered receiving a separate domain, but decided there was no need.
He wasn't greedy for a domain anyway.
It seemed okay to return home soon and rest for a while.
Because there were welcoming people there.
Karl lightly sat up, shook his head, and turned his gaze to a book.
For several months now, Karl had been engrossed in one book.
The name of the book he was reading on horseback was [Khan's Throwing Manual], obtained as a reward some time ago, covering combat techniques utilizing all parts of the body.
‘Amazing.’
The throwing manual, which dealt with techniques utilizing the entire body including weapons, contained several techniques applicable even after becoming a Master-grade knight capable of using aura.
Aura Fist.
It wasn't a widely spread concept among the people of this world.
Since he had experience creating various techniques using the concept of Aura Armor, adapting techniques utilizing bare fists was also comfortable.
Others might not know, but Karl constantly researched ways to utilize aura even while moving or sleeping.
Khan's Throwing Manual presupposed the utilization of all body parts, and there were many points to draw inspiration from, so Karl continued to try various things.
Among them was enveloping not only his own body but also his horse with aura.
‘It’s very helpful.’
Karl gazed blankly at the black-colored bracelet he had received this time.
The bracelet activated his Qi even without conscious effort and functioned to concentrate the surrounding Qi into his body.
Utilizing that principle, Karl continued practicing moving with a constant layer of aura around his body.
The aura surrounding Karl’s body seemed to gather in one place at some point, and when Karl thrust his fist forward, the aura shot forward.
Paang!
A fairly thick tree fell sideways.
‘Still far to go.’
He tried it, recalling the Hundred Pace Divine Fist seen in martial arts novels, but the fist Karl just threw had a maximum range of only about 10 meters.
Even then, by the time it flew 10 meters, the aura’s power significantly diminished.
‘Does aura also encounter resistance.’
It seemed that projected aura encountered resistance from the Qi existing in the world as it moved forward.
Just like an object experiences air resistance when flying forward.
This is interesting.
Then, it meant that aura emitted from a sword was similar.
Karl swung his sword while transforming the shape of his aura into various types.
As he did so, he realized that the thicker and blunter the aura, the larger the surface area subject to resistance, and indeed, the aura's speed slowed down, albeit slightly.
Condense the energy and make it sharper.
Increase the aura's concentration to raise its intensity, bringing sharpness and hardness together like a quenched sword.
Karl’s aura, focused with maximum concentration, began to change gradually.
And at some point, the light of Karl’s aura transformed into a slightly brighter, more beautiful golden color.
Karl, who had his eyes closed, suddenly snapped them open and swung his sword towards the forest.
Even though he was riding a horse, Karl’s lightly swung aura, imbued with a bright light, began to fly forward.
The aura showed no signs of stopping, relentlessly cutting down trees as it continued its advance.
As if encountering no resistance at all, the new aura endlessly cut down trees, traveled forward for quite a distance, and then disappeared.
“Huh…!”
A short exclamation of admiration escaped Karl’s lips.
He couldn't express it numerically, but he could feel that the efficiency and usability of his aura had significantly increased.
Along with that, he also felt that the amount of Qi circulating within his body had become much greater.
‘I probably won’t get tired even if I use aura for a long time unless it’s something extraordinary.’
As Karl continuously trained himself while riding his horse, a small village appeared before him.
Perhaps consisting of about twenty households, the small village was quiet, likely because it was dark night.
As Karl intended to rest for a while, a small tavern caught his eye.
A tavern in such a small place couldn't possibly sustain itself on local demand alone.
Perhaps they catered to passing travelers.
It was a main road, rare in the West Continent, albeit poorly maintained. He had already seen several travelers and merchants passing through.
Slowly opening the tavern door and stepping inside, warmth and people raising their glasses in conversation came into view.
They didn't seem like locals; they looked like travelers.
“Are there any rooms left?”
“You’re a lucky knight, sir. There was exactly one room left.”
Karl nodded at the kindly-looking owner and flicked a coin.
“I’d like some bathwater.”
“I’ll prepare it right away.”
Karl washed in warm water, removed his equipment, and came back down to the shop.
Briefly scanning the travelers conversing nearby, Karl took a seat in the hall and lightly ordered food and beer.
Downing a glass of beer and dipping bread into the ordered soup, putting it into his mouth, Karl scanned the surroundings again due to a strange atmosphere that oddly grated on his nerves.
‘Their eyes aren’t smiling.’
The eyes of the people settled in the tavern weren't smiling.
Their mouths were definitely smiling, but their eyes were strangely cold.
Besides, for a tavern in such a small rural village that only caters to passing guests, there were too many people.
So many travelers in such a small village at this hour.
‘It was too quiet.’
Even when entering the village, there was an unnatural lack of human presence.
But amusingly, only this place was bustling.
The culprit’s senses, sharpened to an unimaginable degree, scanned the surroundings.
Once he started seeing the situation as strange, he also thought the seat he was in was optimal for being attacked.
A spot everyone could target at once, and moreover, his back was completely exposed to the travelers sitting behind him.
As if left vacant waiting for Karl, this was the only empty seat.
“You must be very tired from your long journey. Your face doesn’t look too well, Sir Knight.”
“Looks like an attack is imminent.”
The consumed alcohol and food must have naturally contained poison too.
‘If it weren’t for the Seeker’s Light passive effect I received this time, it would have been dangerous.’
Perhaps thanks to the combined effect of the Master's physique and the resistance increase passive effect, he could feel the poison's energy, but it didn't seem to be significantly affecting his body.
The person who appeared to be the bartender observed Karl’s complexion and showed a strange smile.
He undoubtedly thought Karl was poisoned.
Thwack!
“Kuh…!”
Karl smiled and plunged his knife into the bartender’s neck.
It was a decisive strike without a shred of hesitation.
And simultaneously, enemies rose from all directions.
The voices that had been laughing and chatting just moments before vanished all at once.
And only the sound of footsteps approaching Karl filled the surroundings.
Somehow, it felt like it would be a long night.
Karl smiled as he saw the enemies flying in from all directions.
It had seemed quiet for a while.
Slice!
Slicing off the neck of an incoming assassin, Karl deflected the sword of the next assassin who attacked in perfect coordination as if they were one body, and rushed towards him.
Even though a neck flew off each time Karl’s sword moved, they made no sound, simply approaching Karl like machines and swinging their weapons.
‘Hup…!’
Although he was deflecting and blocking most attacks well, the hidden weapons flying in intermittently, barely discernible even to the naked eye, were exceedingly difficult for even Karl to block.
Thin, needle-like hidden weapons, clearly coated in poison, flew in from everywhere.
Since he was wearing chainmail, blocking them with armor was difficult, and it wasn't possible to fight with aura constantly active.
Moreover, it was impossible to know how many enemies existed not just inside this tavern, but within this entire village.
‘Who sent these guys.’
Many things had happened since coming to the West Continent, but he guessed these were sent by one of two parties.
Either Tarantula or Marquis Baltimo.
No other significant bad blood came to mind, so it had to be one of them.
Klaang!
Even as his thoughts continued, assassins were rapidly rushing in from all directions.
It would be better to clash head-on like with knights; these were tricky bastards.
An assassination squad of this scale and discipline was unlikely to carry any meaningful insignia indicating their affiliation.
Karl decided to focus on dealing with them first.
[Karl Meyer Style. 2nd Form. One Point (一點)]
At that moment, Karl’s sword converged into one point and shot forward with extreme speed.
The place where Karl’s sword stopped was outside the tavern.
It had pierced through everything in its path—people, doors, everything—in a single strike.
“…”
The assassins hiding in the moonlit village all walked outside.
Gripping his sword tightly, Karl rushed towards the enemies without hesitation.